mjf memories...
When we were putting together the very first festival back in late 1995, we really had no idea that the event would take off as it did, blossoming into an annual celebration of the region's talented, creative musicians that we now look forward to each year. We were initially a voluntary group of musicians, jazz fans and event organisers with the common goal of wanting to give
Our special focus was on contemporary jazz, and on encouraging musicians to create their own repertoire. This, aside from being a particular passion of ours, was also crucial in determining the character of the festival, ensuring that it didn't conflict with other major jazz festivals in the region.
We set about raising funds, applying for grants, and talking to several local companies about contributing their services in-kind. With some financial help from the City Council, a brewery, the music department of what was then North West Arts Board, and the Musicians Union, we put together a programme of nine bands, a DJ, off-stage activities and beer sampling – but alas, we forgot to book the portaloos.
By staging the event outdoors and for free in the middle of July, outside Dukes 92 in Castlefield, our hopes were set on a decent crowd, a hot sunny day and a rave reception. What we hadn't planned for was having to pull the entire event just as the first saxophonist's mouthpiece reached his lips, when the 1996 bomb went off and the city centre had to be evacuated. Those of you who were there may recall one of the bands due to appear was John Ellis' Big Bang…
Not deterred, we re-staged the event for August, with the same line-up, the same beer, the elusive portaloos, and, entirely co-incidentally, a spectacular firework display in Castlefield for a backdrop…
Flushed - and to be honest, surprised - with the success of the event, we realised that there was a need for it to become a regular occurrence: the demand was there from both the musicians and the audience. In order to expand and keep a lot of the event free, however, it was clear that we were going to need support and long-term investment from funding organisations.
Working from our front rooms – as many similar events still do – we planned a second festival for June 1997, and earned a number of grants and sponsorships, enabling us to bring in more venues, more bands and spread the activity over a two-week period, allowing us to also experiment with the format and timing.
By 1998, the festival was growing, and we needed to formalise ourselves as an organisation and become more professional in the way in which we carried out our work. This, along with exciting plans to introduce more activity into the programme – commissioning work, education projects for example – inspired us to apply to the then Arts Council of Great Britain for a major Lottery grant. This would allow us to operate from an office in the city centre, secure funds to produce the next two festivals, and – careful you don't choke on your chocolate bar here – actually get paid for doing it. Well, almost.
When news came, after months of slaving away at various drafts and proposals, that the grant was successful, we went to town (literally), picked up our office keys and splashed out on veggie breakfasts and mineral waters – no-one was going to accuse us of frittering away (ouch) Arts Council funds...
Over the next two years, mjf steadily built up festival activity to include additional projects such as the Education Programme with local schools, co-ordinated by Lucy Power, who went on to do great things with the
1999 saw a massive boost for the festival with the Arts Council awarding us the status of a 'Regularly Funded Organisation'. This effectively meant that we didn't have to keep applying for grants each year, waiting on decisions and not being able to plan ahead. This status remains to this day, despite difficult times at Arts Council England, who have had their 3 year budget frozen by government until 2008.
In 2000 we were proud to host the national jazz industry conference How to Develop Jazz for Audiences. Or Die at the Bridgewater Hall, which really helped put
2000 also saw us commission our first major work for the festival: New Futures by Richard Iles. This embodied our goal of providing a platform for our composers and players to realise such ambitious projects, and help raise their profile in doing so. It was also a great piece of music, which combined the talents of younger and older players, parts of which Richard is still playing today.
The Commonwealth Games were on the horizon in 2001, and we proposed an international exchange programme with jazz festivals in
A trip to the Ottawa Jazz Festival in the summer saw us hob-nobbing with international promoters and artists, and we were delighted to be able to bring a handful over to perform at the 2002 festival. Which reminds me, we're still owed for the flights, aren't we?…
In 2003 we were able to work with the Events Unit at the City Council to present a large outdoor finale in Albert Square – and after a fortuitously glorious afternoon, the sight and sound of festive revelry on that summer night left an imprint on us all. It managed to attract over 5,000 people – possibly the largest jazz audience in
Our collaborations with venues continued, and in 2004 we were able to co-promote with the Bridgewater Hall the Wynton Marsalis concert with the Lincoln Centre Jazz Orchestra – this, and the jam sessions afterwards with some of our star Mancunian players, brought us sparks of music, excitement – and dare I say pride? Manchester City Council also confirmed us as one of their 'Pillar Events' on the calendar – which, aside from the benefits of earmarking regular annual funding, was an endorsement of our achievements to date in giving the city a high-profile music event.
With 2005 marking our tenth festival, we thought we'd raise funds to commission four very special and very diverse new pieces of work from regional composers to premičre at the festival. These pieces were fine examples of our aims to heighten the profiles and careers of some of the star creative artists we're lucky enough to have here in the north-west. They achieved national profile, with Guardian reviews, sell out crowds and some wonderful moments. We were also overjoyed that BBC Radio 3 chose to broadcast their flagship contemporary jazz programme Jazz on 3 live from the launch night – a programme which was later voted one of the best programmes of the year. The 2005 festival also attracted a title sponsor for the first time in our history, thus enabling us to really pull out the stops with the event. We held an enormously enjoyable launch, produced a special commemorative compilation CD (still a few copies left if you're interested!), T-shirts, and presented a sleepless 9 days of non-stop jazz: – widely recognised as our biggest and best; certainly the most exhausting for the tiny team of staff and volunteers…
As we passed into our second decade with the 2006 festival, we still held high our commitment to championing the music of
New ideas keep coming in; exciting young players continue to emerge and musicians continue to view mjf as a chance to create something special. We'll carry on doing what we hope we do best: pass it on! More exciting commissions and collaborations unique to
Of course it would be inaccurate to assume that all the gigs and events run as smoothly as they should – indeed some of the more panicky moments have been some of the most memorable (and here it would be the height of indiscretion to name names!). None of us will forget a call from the hard shoulder 150 miles away, a few hours before their appearance – not normally such a big problem, except they were carrying 5 tubas crucial to their performance. Nor a hasty call from one bandleader who had only managed to get as far as Birmingham an hour before their gig – with no drum kit and no bass player.
Nor inadvertently making a representative from one of our core funders wait outside in the cold, rainy street for an hour and a half while the band soundchecked…
But the memory of great music presides over these recollections, which is the reason we're all still here doing what we do. It would be impossible and unfair to list all our favourite bits, but if I were to have my head thrust into a bass bin and be made to confess, these random recollections may well emerge…
Norma Winstone, Nikki Iles and Mike Walker at the Green Room (a spine-tingler)…
Iain Ballamy and Stian Carstensen (even the soundcheck was mesmerising)…
Dave Walsh going for it with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra pianist in Matt & Phred's (nutty)…
John Ellis and Rob Dainton
Great Uncles of the Revolution, Canadian bluegrass-jazz (so laid-back they were almost horizontal)…
Orquesta Timbala pulsating through Albert Square…and at the other extreme, Richard Wetherall and
Presenting the late John Meyer's Indo Jazz Fusions in '99 (my first jazz LP at age 16, which I mistakenly got used to listening to at 45rpm)…Evan Parker's Electro-Acoustic Ensemble totally cramming every inch of the stage with leads, gear, crates, mixers, effects units…Bringing the Tord Gustavsen Trio over from
Jez Nelson's headphones flying off to the receptive cheer as Jazz on 3 comes live from the festival launch in 2005…
Now we're a dedicated team of three, working most of the year round, building on each year and looking to how we can bring something different to each festival. We want to ensure that the festival remains both a focus for musicians to try out new ideas, and a special, celebratory event for
